(The Frugal) Celiac Road Trip

Well, it's that time of year! Off to the Beach, the Mountains, or wherever for vacation fun!

I had a brief overnight at the Outer Banks (NC) this weekend, and I will fill you here in on the details of my gluten free eating while on this trip.

There is an essential item for every Celiac for any road trip, however brief. I can't think of anything more useful or more helpful.

Do you know what it is?

It's a COOLER!

Are you the type of person that hates to worry about tomorrow, hates to make food ahead, or loves to eat out?

Well, I want to encourage you to reinvent the way you think about food while traveling.

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Almost everywhere I go for more than a day, I take a cooler. I even take a cooler on many day trips, with lunches and/or dinners. This not only ensures that you can know with 100% certainty that your food is safe to eat, but also saves you money by preventing you from buying food and beverage!

And it's not like it takes up that much room in the car.

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What's in Emily's cooler?

You might be thinking: If it's a bunch of cold leftovers, I'll have to say, "no thanks."

Right. Well, I agree. Nothing like choking down that last piece of leftover chicken out of obligation (but you do have to do that now and then).

This overnight trip (noon Friday to noon Saturday) I filled my cooler with:

• 4 water bottles
• 3 diet coke bottles

• 2 Larabars
• 3 Attune probiotic white chocolate bars
• 1 Envirokids crispy rice bar

• 2 yogurt cups
  
• 4 frozen Pamela's Lemon Shortbread cookies
• 1 sliced tomato
• 4 pcs. sliced mozzarella cheese and fresh basil leaves
• 1 frozen Glutino plain bagel

• Don't forget Ice Packs

That sounds like a lot, but it's just a few drinks, snacks and meal food.

So what did I eat?

On the 3 hour trip going, I drank one water and ate one Attune bar.

For dinner, I went out to eat, at the Full Moon Cafe in Manteo, NC. I had their nacho plate. The waitress checked and they use Utz corn chips, which only have corn, oil, and salt. (remember, some restaurants, especially if they make their own chips, have corn chips that are not gluten free). It was good, no reaction for me.

For after-concert snack back at the hotel, while unwinding with friends--I had the mozzarella, tomato, and basil. MMM.

For 2nd day's breakfast, I had hotel coffee, 2 hard boiled eggs from the hotel's continental breakfast, my rice bagel heated in my room's microwave (topped with cream cheese from the hotel).

For lunch the 2nd day, I lunched at Adrianna's Restaurant on the water in Manteo, NC. They didn't have too much to choose from, but I had a Kobe burger without bun, and a house salad. It was very filling, and tasted very good. On my receipt it said "GLUT ALLERGY", so whether or not they really know what to do, they at least have it in their computer that they should do something.

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So was I completely isolated and did I hide in my hotel eating cheese and crackers out of my cooler? (Oh, cheese and crackers are good!).
--no! I was out and about, eating and asking questions.

Did I save money by not having to go out for breakfast and evening snack (2nd dinner)?
--absolutely!

But this little bit of planning ahead helped fill in the cracks of snacks and incomplete meals (like hotel breakfast). I always had something I could eat, so I knew I wouldn't starve. I didn't eat everything I took, but I could have if I needed to. And I could mix-n-match my food with the food I found (like using the hotel cream cheese).

What came home with me in the cooler?

• Yogurts
• 2 Larabars
• 1 Envirokids bar
  
• 1 Attune bar
• 3 Diet Cokes
• 1 water

Had I been staying longer, I'd have done a little more to eat things frugally in my hotel room. But this was a short trip and I had a carpool friend (so eating out was the better choice for some meals).

Maybe you are wondering--How did I keep all that from spoiling?

---ICE PACKS! and the hotel had a fridge in my room.

Oh, no! you say. What if my hotel doesn't have a fridge? How can I be a happy celiac traveler then?

--Easy. Old traveling musician trick. Keep all items in cooler. Take along a couple gallon-size ziplock freezer bags. When you arrive at the hotel, take the bags to the ice machine, and fill up with ice. Voila-- you have instant ice packs. You can keep refilling them as long as you stay at the hotel.

Underground tip: Don't stress out. Pretty much you can take all kinds of stuff to eat on road trips. Just plan ahead and think of what you'll need beforehand.

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Epilogue. The Pamela's Lemon Shortbread cookies. Did you notice they were unaccounted for? I don't know what happened, but they didn't make it home. Those cookies are missing in action. Where could they possibly have gone?? (read: my tummy says "mmm").